The rockers on my old Ford were rotten and disgusting. People couldn't exit the car without gnarly rust taking a bite out of their calf. So, for the sake of my friend's legs, I cut out the rust and welded in fresh cold steel. Here's how I did it.

Once the panel was clamped in I tacked it, welded it, and ground down my beads. After grinding I welded up any pinholes I found. Full Disclosure, I don't have a lot of experience welding and I leave plenty of pinholes.

I bought some patch panels from Dennis Carpenter. They were 60 bucks for a pair and shipping was only about 10$, 30 bucks a side isn't too bad.

They seemed a little thinner than the stock steel, but they were good quality and didn't require too much reshaping to fit.

Here it is all welded in. There's still a tiny rectangular hole just behind the door that needs to be filled where I cut my patch too small but it shouldn't be too much trouble to fix.

It's not perfect. The fit under the door could be a little better, and behind the door needs some hammer and dolly work before I start with body filler. I want to see if I can improve the gap at the back of the panel too. But hey, it's my first try and it's a lot better than all the nasty rust that was there before.

For now I'm going to scuff it, prime it, and hit it with some rattle can black paint which will keep the rust off until it comes time for body work and filler.﻿Stay tuned!﻿